Air-lift.



F. J. KIMBALL.

AIR LIFT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1911.

1,039,958. iii

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK JK KIMBALL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

inn-LIFT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

Application filed November 9, 1911. Serial No. 659,427.

of the air-lift. Y

' A further object of the invention is to provide for regulation of the operation of the air-lift with minimumvariation in the pressure supplied from the compressor.

Another object of the invention is to ro-' vide means for keeping the pump head c ear of sand so as to prevent the same from clog- Other ob ects of the invention w1ll appear hereinafter. I

The accompan ing drawings illustrate an embodiment of t e invention, and referring thereto: Figure 1 is a vertical sect-ion of the pump head. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line ac -a2 in Fig.1. Fig. 3 is an eleva gionaof thelower nozzle collar for the pump ea i l designates a tubular wellcasing which extends down into a well and is provided at ing air into the column" of water or other liquid in the casing, such air belng supplled videdn wit anouter wall 6 and winner wall; 7 separatedby an annular air space'or.cham-.

its lower end with the pump head for forcthrough a supply pipe 2 extending-into the well, alongside of the cas1ng.- 1; and connected to I the pump. head tosupply air.

thereto. h

The pump head comprises a plurallty of sections arranged one above the other. In

the present case, I have shown two sections, which sufliciently illustrate the principles of the invention. The upper section conhaving a screw threaded upper end portion 5, screwing onto} sists of a tubular member the casin 1, said tubular member 'bei'ng'proher 8, spacers 9 bein provided, extending between the inner an outer walls to rigidly connect the same, but to allow free passage of air around the inner-wall and from top to bottom of the air space. The air-"space is closed at the top as shown at 10, the inner to means for pumpwall '7 bein substantially continuous with the inside 0 the casing 1, and the outer wall 6 being-of sufliciently greater diameter to provide for the air space 8. The. said air space is open at its lower end, the outer wall 6 being provided at its lower end with an extension 6' of somewhat larger diameter into which screws the outer wall or-casing 13 for the lower section. The inner wall 7 is also rovided with an extension 7 of larger diameter, screw threaded for connection to the inner casing 14, leading to the lower section.- The outer wall 6 is formed withan outward extension 15 at its upper end, screw threaded as at 15' to receive the air supply pipe 2, ,said extension establishing communication between said air supply pipe and the ,air space 8. A plurality of nozzles 18are connected to the said air space or chamber 8, said nozzles being screwed or otherwise secured to hollow lugs 19 extending inwardly from the inner wall 7, the chambers or assages 17 within said. lugs flaring upwar ly and the inner walls of said lugs extending obliquely inward and upward to conduct the air with minimum resistance to the nozzles 18. the air passages 11. therein and the nozzles 18 connected thereto are to the longitudinal axis 0 the head and casing so as to discharge the air from the nozpreferably inclined The said lugs 19,

zles in an oblique direction, giving a tangential or rotary component of motion to the air and to the water for the purpose hereinafter set forth. This rotative or whirlingaction is due not only to the tangential movement given to the issuing air, but also to theaction of the inclined lugs themselves,

acting as deflectors to cause whirling movement of the water. q

- Thev lower ump head section 4 isarranged at any esired or suitable depth below the upper section 4, say 2 to 6 feet, the outer casing 13' connected to the upper section, -f0rm'1ng,1for example, the outer wall for the lower section, and the inner wall of said section comprising'a tubular member or sleeve 20 screwing onto the inner casing 14 aforesaid, and separated from the outer wall 13 by spacers 21 whichmay be cast on the inner wall, forming an air space contmuous wlth the s ace in the u per pump head section. The ower pump head section is provlded with-nozzles 18' similar to the up er nozzles abovedscribed and extending o liquely to 1. 0

the axisof the pum casing said nozzles'being attached to obllque inwardly extending lugs.19 which are formed with air passages establishing communication from the said air space to the said nozzle. An inner suction casing 24 is screwed into the lower end of the inner tubular member 20 as indicated at 26*and extends to any desired depth in the well, the outer and inner casings 18 and 2 1 being immersed in the water or fluid in the well. The upper and lower sectionsformv a tubular pump head having a continuous in ternal passage which connects the suction casing 24 to the well casing 1. The nozzles of the upper and lower sections open into this cylindrical internal passage and are arranged at different heights so as to provide for regulation as hereinafter set forth.

The operation is as follows :Assuming that the air-lift is working on partial capacity, for example, 75% of its full capacity, the pressure furnished through the supply pipe 2 is suflicient to depress the water .in the space 8 below the level of the nozzles 19 of the upper'stage or section, but not below'the lower nozzles of the lower stage or section, so that air will issue only through said upper nozzle. The air is ejected through the upper nozzles into the .per square inch, this being suflicient to force the level of water in the space 8 below the nozzles 19 in the lower stage or section. The amount of air that then issues through the nozzles is increased not only by the greater velocity of outflow due to the increased pressure but in much larger ratio by reason of the doubling of the effective outlet for the air, theair issuing throu h the lower nozzles as well, as through t e upper nozzles. It will beunderstood that the uppernozzles present a certain-resistance to the passage of the air therethrough, whlch increases with the pressure and as the pressure is increased in the supply pipe and in the air space 8, the resistance in the nozzles holdsback the pressure so as to force the air to find an additional outlet through the lower nozzle. Thus, a comparatively small increase in the pressure from the compressor will give a large increase in the lifting capacity of the air lift. 4

When operating two or more wells with this air-lift system, it is unnecessary-to regulate the flow of each well'with a valve at the surface of the ground. Thus if two or more air-lifts of this design are operating in the tending around the internal wells, the valves at the surface of the ground may be left wide open, and if sufficient air is delivered by the ,compressor to operate each air-lift to 75% of its capacity, the upper stage in each air lift will discharge air. If it is desired to increase the capacity from each of the three air lifts to full capacity, it is only necessary to increase the volume of air in the compressor to full capacity, and this increased volume of air delivered to the wells cannot discharge through the nozzles in the upper stage. Therefore, a slight increase in pressure will occur, which will force the water in the air space below the nozzles in the lower stage, which will permit a discharge of this surplus air through the lower stage nozzles, thereby increasing the water proportionately from all of the three wells. This system permits of the engineer or operator to increase or decrease the fiow of water from the wells by simply increasing or decreasing the speed of the compressor, and does not require his attention or regulation at the wells. This range of regulation may be varied to suit the conditions of the wells that are to be pumped by adding as many stages as may be necessary.

The space or chamber between the inner and outer walls of the air-lift pump head being open at the bottom, any sand which finds its way into said space can fall or precipitate through the open bottom of this space, so that there is no danger of clogging of the pump head,

What I claim 'is:

1.- An air-lift comprising,,in combination with a well casing, a tubular pump head connected'to the lower end of said casing, and pnovided with an air chamber, means for supplying compressed air to said chamber, and a plurality of nozzles extending upwardly from said chamber and opening at their lower ends into said chamber and opening at their upper ends into the interior of the tubular pump head at different levels. 2. An air-lift comprising, in combination with a well casing, a tubular pump head connected to the lower end of said casing, and provided with an air chamber, means for supplying compressed air to said chamber, and a plurality of nozzles communicating with said chamber and opening into the. interior of the tubular pump head at different levels, the lower end of said air chamher being open. I

3. In an air lift, the combination with a Well casing, of a tubular pump head connected to the lower end of said casing, and provided with an annular air chamber expassage of the pump head, means for supplying compressed air to said chamber and a plurality of lugs. extending from the wall of said pump head into said internal passage, said lugs being the Water by the deflecting action of said In presence ofinclined and being formed with obliquely In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set extending nozzles communicating'with said my hand at Los Angeles, California this air chamber and with said internal passage 3rd day of November 1911.

whereby a whirling motion is imparted to FRANK J. KIMBALL.

lugs and by the oblique motionv of the air ARTHUR P. KNIGHT,

issuing from said nozzles. GLADYS RUSSELL. 

